The Academy
by MidwesternMandarin
Summary: Post Endgame. Icheb attends Starfleet Academy because it would have been very interesting for more to happen with his character. Various other characters may pop in from time to time.
1. Chapter 1

Icheb

Author's Note: So I felt like doing something a little different from what I usually post because my interest in Icheb has been rekindled since I heard that he will be appearing in Star Trek: Renegades (which is a project that will try to get a new Star Trek TV show started). I decided to start doing short little chapters that may or may not be in chronological order and focus on Icheb in Starfleet Academy. I hope you enjoy and reviews are appreciated.

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Walking through Voyager was an entirely different experience for him now that the ship was a museum. It was totally empty at the moment, except for himself of course. But having been a member of Voyager's crew, he had access to the ship just about any time he pleased and that included when the ship was closed to the public like it was today.

Icheb was used to people walking through the corridors all the time, going from one place to another with some urgent task to do. Now he could not sense a single living being within the ship. It felt rather … depressing. There were times he missed being on Voyager as it had been his home after leaving the Collective, much more so than his own homeworld.

He headed to the astrometrics lab first, where he had done much of his work before the ship had made it back to the Alpha Quadrant. The main display was deactivated and Icheb knew from experience that it only ever showed one image anymore, which was a detailed map of Voyager's journey through the Delta Quadrant. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, that the image never changed or that the astrometrics lab no longer functioned.

Not wanting to dwell excessively on negative emotions, he turned and headed toward the cargo bay. The alcoves still hummed with life, one of the few parts of the ship that did, and there were times when he was tempted to spend a night regenerating in his old alcove. He never actually did. The other cadets at Starfleet Academy seemed uncomfortable enough around him and he did not want to increase their discomfort. Lieutenant Paris had informed him on several occasions that Seven had been seen returning to Voyager's cargo bay to regenerate, although Icheb was relatively certain the pilot had been joking.

"I hope you're not planning on spending the night."

He turned quickly to see his roommate, Benjamin Holt, "How did you get on this ship?"

Ben, who was half human and half Betazoid, shrugged easily as he came closer, "Its not too hard. They barely lock the doors and, this being Earth, hardly expect anyone to sneak on board. Knew I'd find you here, Icheb."

"How did you know I'd be here?"

Ben leaned against a console and crossed his arms over his chest as he shrugged a second time, "Whenever you're feeling a bit … melancholy you come back here. I'd be a poor security officer if I wasn't able to recognize patterns in a person's behavior, especially since we've been rooming together for months now. Something troubling you?"

Icheb did not dispute his roommate's words, but took a moment to consider his response as he still had not perfected his ability to converse with others, "I believe the best term is … homesick. Despite the short amount of time I spent upon Voyager, I became accustomed to it in a much greater sense than I had thought."

The other cadet nodded easily, "I think you're right. I've always equated what you're feeling to homesickness when I felt it in others. Is there anything I can do to help? Going through the academy is a long process, having friends to lean on can't hurt."

Icheb considered the offer. Having at least one friend would certainly be a good thing, especially if it helped him seem less intimidating to the other cadets. Additionally, he knew that the academy had tried to put several other roommates with him before Ben, but they had all refused to share a room with someone who had been a Borg drone and spent his night regenerating in a Borg alcove instead of sleeping in a bed.

"Perhaps a distraction. Do you play kalto?"

Ben chuckled, but not in a malicious way, "Somehow I'm not surprised you would suggest a Vulcan logic game. No, I don't, since I've never actually met a Vulcan before. I've been told I'm a decent chess player, though, and I have a board back in our room."

Despite having never played chess, Icheb had heard of it and knew the basics, "Very well."


	2. Chapter 2: Borg 101

Icheb

Author's Note: First of all, thank you for all the reviews so far. Especially to zanuda because I honestly did not know the proper spelling of kal-toh before and I was just guessing. As to the concern about Icheb's friend Ben having never met a Vulcan before; there were no typos there. In the shows, Starfleet has always come across as being mostly human in composition so that's how I'm picturing it in my head and I would be surprised if each class of cadets was so small that everyone knew each other, so I think its feasible that Ben has not yet met a Vulcan. As to Voyager becoming a museum so quickly, I figure the ship would quickly become much too special to just be sent back out for random missions since it has technology from the future and is not the flagship of the Federation fleet like the Enterprise.

Anyway, this is set roughly around the time of Nemesis (which occurs about a year after Endgame) so Romulus has not been destroyed yet. In case anyone was wondering about when this story was occurring. I hope you enjoy and reviews are appreciated.

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Being required to take a class about the Borg made sense logically, but felt unnecessary to Icheb. With his experience on Voyager in addition to having been a Borg drone himself, he felt that his time could be spent in a more useful endeavor as he already had extensive knowledge of the Borg. But it was a required course for all cadets and there was the possibility that he would learn something from it, so he made sure to take the class at the same time and with the same professor as Ben. If the class became tedious or uninteresting, at least he would be sharing that experience with a friend.

Something he never expected from the class was to see Captain, rather Admiral now, Janeway sitting at the front of the room with the professor. She smiled at him as he entered the room and he nodded back as he went to take his seat. There were about twenty students in the class and the lecture began as soon as everyone had sat down.

The professor, a male human who held the rank of lieutenant commander, stepped up to the podium and began to speak, "Welcome, all of you. As I'm sure you are all aware this is a required course for everyone, regardless of academic focus, and I'm also sure some of you are expecting this to be one of the … less stimulating courses that you will take at the academy. But in the hope of making this a more memorable experience, I have asked Admiral Janeway to help us get to know the Borg. Just a quick reminder, Admiral Janeway spent seven years in the Delta Quadrant and crossed paths with the Borg Collective multiple times."

The admiral stood, a smile on her face, and clasped her hands in front of her, "Let's get right down to it, then. Who can tell me some of the more inventive ways that have been employed to fight the Borg?"

One of the cadets, a male Andorian, stood and began to provide a detailed account of Commander Riker's actions in defending Earth from the first Borg cube that had attacked the Federation. To Icheb, Riker's actions and the use of Captain Picard while still a drone were inventive, but probably not repeatable. The Borg Queen's actions and fascination with Captain Picard, going so far as to give him a name, were extremely unique and extremely unlikely to be happen with anyone else.

Once the Andorian had sat back down, Admiral Janeway nodded, "Yes, that was inventive, but we all know that one, Cadet. I'm looking for something a little more unusual."

After a long minute in which no one offered any other methods, Admiral Janeway asked, "Nothing? You should really do your reading. Oh well, maybe you just haven't gotten to that point in the course material yet. By far one of the more inventive ways of fighting the Borg that I've seen was thought up by the Brunali, a species native to the Delta Quadrant. After their planet was ravaged by the Collective, they created a way of modifying their DNA so that they could carry a very dangerous pathogen inside them that would wreak havoc on the Borg. It was a method so successful that a single individual was able to disable an entire cube."

Icheb, even though he knew he wasn't particularly knowledge about human interactions, could see that the other cadets were getting excited by this and one of them, a human female with long brown hair, spoke up, "I don't remember seeing any references to the Brunali in the course material, sir. If they came up with such an effective way of fighting the Borg, why hasn't it been included in the required readings?"

Admiral Janeway sighed and gestured toward him, "Well, Voyager has only returned to Federation space recently so the textbooks probably haven't been revised yet. More importantly, however, there is a significant drawback to this method, one that Icheb knows quite well."

When the other cadets turned to look at him, Icheb supplied them with the answer, "You have to be assimilated for the pathogen to affect the Borg. It will not work otherwise."

The excitement of the other cadets' seemed to diminish substantially upon hearing his words and none of them said anything, so Admiral Janeway spoke again, "As I said, it was one of the more ingenious methods of fighting the Borg, but it comes at a price. Let's move on, shall we?"

The rest of the lecture passed uneventfully. Admiral Janeway and the professor took turns speaking. They began the course by describing the purpose and history of the Borg, which was at least interesting to learn from the Federation's perspective. Hearing about the Battle of Wolf 359 was quite interesting, even if only a brief overview was given. The class would probably cover it in greater depth later. If nothing else, it helped Icheb understand why Admiral Janeway had been promoted so quickly upon returning from the Delta Quadrant and gave him a better appreciation for her accomplishments against the Collective.

When the class ended and the rest of the cadets filed out of the room, Icheb lingered and was not surprised when Admiral Janeway said, "I didn't expect to see you in this class, Icheb. I would have thought you knew all that you needed to know about the Borg, given your experience with them."

He came closer to the podium where she was standing beside the professor, "It is a required course, Admiral, so I felt it would be more appropriate to take the course instead of attempting to get an exemption."

She nodded, "I suppose that makes sense. You never know when you might learn something new. Experience can be a wonderful teacher, but learning the curriculum can't hurt. I'm still trying to learn all I can about the Dominion War so I don't make a fool of myself at Admiralty meetings. Imagine my surprise when I first saw a Cardassian cadet."

He remained silent as he did not quite understand what was so surprising about Cardassians in Starfleet. The Dominion War had ended years ago and the Cardassian Union was no longer hostile to the Federation. Thus far, he had only met one Starfleet cadet who was Cardassian and to his knowledge there were no other Cardassians in his year. Perhaps it was something that needed to be appreciated on a more emotional level.

Seeing that he did not fully understand and appreciate her surprise, she moved on from that topic, "Anyway, I don't know if you two have formally met. Icheb, meet Lieutenant Commander Reginald Barclay."

They shook hands as Lieutenant Commander Barclay smiled, "Its a pleasure to meet you, Icheb. Every member of Voyager's crew that I've spoken to have all spoken highly of you."

He nodded appreciatively, "Thank you, Commander. I hope I won't disappoint you."

Commander Barclay waved his hand dismissively, "Oh, I doubt that'll happen, especially in a course that every cadet takes. But before we take any more of your time, do you have anywhere that you have to be right now?"

"I have an hour before my next class begins."

Admiral Janeway gestured toward the door, "Good, we have a chance to talk then. We can grab a bite to eat and catch up. Unless you need to be somewhere, Reg."

Commander Barclay smiled, "I've actually got a free hour as well."

Icheb let them lead the way out of the classroom as he was only a cadet while they were an admiral and lieutenant commander. He found himself getting excited about talking to Admiral Janeway again. They had not been particularly close on Voyager, but with all the crew members drifting apart to do a myriad of things it was becoming increasingly rare that he had a chance to speak with his former crew mates. So it was nice to talk to someone he'd known before coming to the Alpha Quadrant. Federation space was home to so many members of Voyager's crew, but for Icheb Voyager was what he thought of when he thought of home.

As the three of them walked through the halls Icheb noticed that most of the cadets they passed stared at them. He tried to think of why, but nothing came to mind. Perhaps Ben could explain it to him later. His roommate was much more knowledgeable when it came to social interactions and human behavior.

They walked for approximately ten minutes before they arrived at a small cafe, which had a sign that advertised authentic American food, and sat down at an outdoor table. Commander Barclay got the conversation started again by asking how Admiral Janeway was doing and how she liked being an admiral instead of a captain while they waited to order their food.


	3. Chapter 3: Cardassian

Icheb

Author's Note: So as far as I know there hasn't been any real explanation of what happens with the Cardassians after the Dominion War ends and that gave me an idea. Hopefully you like it. Also, I received some feedback about the last chapter that disagreed with making Reginald Barclay an instructor at Starfleet Academy. I would just like to point out that Barclay actually was an instructor at Starfleet Academy at the beginning of the episode titled Endgame, so its not like I was pulling that idea out of thin air. Maybe I should make him stammer a bit more, however. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and reviews are appreciated.

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While most of the other cadets seemed to find Federation history to be one of the less interesting subjects available at the academy, Icheb found it quite interesting. Ben had assured him that it was one of the less rigorous courses and passing it with a good grade was quite easy because it was a course that was intended to ensure that every Starfleet officer knew the history of the organization they were a part of and had at least some amount of common knowledge. For Icheb, who knew his own knowledge of the Federation was lacking, it was a good way to, if nothing else, get an introduction to the subject.

It did not take long to notice that the Cardassian cadet was taking the course as well. The instructor asked him questions often, specifically on how Cardassians viewed the Federation and how they interpreted Starfleet actions. That was how Icheb came to learn that the cadet's name was Kostek. It was also his belief, even though he had not done an in-depth study of the Cardassian Union, that there was a certain amount of paranoia and militarism to Cardassian actions in the past.

Icheb was walking the grounds of the academy one day after class, attempting to acquire a greater appreciation for nature and art as he had been told several times that it was part of one's humanity, when Kostek approached him, "Your name is Icheb, yes?"

He nodded and turned to face Kostek, "It is. Was there something you needed?"

Kostek, who was a couple inches shorter than Icheb but somewhat broader in the shoulders, shook his head, "No, I didn't need anything. I am curious, however, about what you are doing. I hardly expected to see a former Borg drone staring at trees and flowers."

"You know about me?"

The Cardassian took a few steps closer so they could both look at the grounds that were meticulously cared for by Boothby. Although he had never met the man, Icheb was aware that Admiral Janeway thought highly of the groundskeeper. There were numerous species of trees and flowers and various other flora, but Icheb could not see the attraction of caring for them as Boothby did.

Kostek gestured toward his face, "That thing near your eye looks more like Borg technology than some kind of jewelry. However, a more direct answer would be that I've studied Voyager and its exploits in the Delta Quadrant, most cadets learn about it in fact. The story is an epic, one that will surely be known across the entire quadrant before long. So I think its safe to say that just about everyone in our class knows at least one or two things about you."

He pondered that for a second then looked at his fellow cadet, "I suppose that may be part of the reason why only a few cadets have seemed comfortable talking to me. Perhaps I am not simply another cadet to them."

Kostek chuckled, "Palling around with an admiral won't help change that impression of theirs. Then again, we're similar that way. I'm a Cardassian, you are a former Borg drone as well as a member of a species that isn't native to the Alpha Quadrant. Makes it difficult for us to be just a couple of cadets. But you haven't answered my question yet."

Icheb noticed that Kostek had an easy, deliberate way of speaking and wondered if that was typical of Cardassians, however he did not comment on it, instead he focused on the question he'd been asked, "I have been attempting to acquire a better appreciation for things that are aesthetically pleasing. My former crew mates have spoken about how it helps in reclaiming one's humanity."

Kostek's brows rose for a second, "Well, that sounded much more Vulcan than human to me. Is it working at all?"

He shook his head, "No, it is not. Perhaps it will just take some time."

"Or maybe looking at well-trimmed gardens isn't what you like and if you go about it logically you should see if other artistic pursuits are more to your liking."

Icheb nodded and decided not to bring up Seven's total lack of artistic interest even though she was the only person he felt he could relate to sometimes, instead he decided to ask a question of his own, "I am curious why a Cardassian would be interested in joining Starfleet."

Kostek grinned slightly, "You know, I don't actually get asked that very often. Probably because the other cadets don't talk to me much. Anyway, Cardassia has suffered tremendously because of the last two wars we were in, both of which went disastrously for my people. We used to take pride in our military and how powerful it was. Our fleets made the Federation pay dearly for every engagement, back when Cardassia and the Federation fought relatively minor border wars."

His grin had faded by then and his voice held a somber tone as he continued, "But then came the war with the Klingons. It was humiliating. Not simply the fact that we lost, but that we lost so quickly. Then the Dominion War came and by the end over eight hundred million Cardassians had been killed and that was just by those who had been our allies."

Icheb was not sure what to say. Cognitively, he knew he should offer some kind of condolence for the act of genocide that had been inflicted upon the Cardassian people, but it did not feel like it was enough. He thought briefly of comparing the experience of the Cardassians to the Brunali in an attempt to help Kostek feel better. However, he found himself unsure of that as well. Despite losing eight hundred million people, the Cardassians still controlled numerous star systems and remained technologically on par with the other powers of the Alpha Quadrant while the Brunali were trapped on their single world with no hope of recovery.

Kostek spoke before Icheb could figure out what to say, "Usually when that's brought up in conversation people offer their sympathy. Is that also something you're still working on?"

The words had been delivered with such a tone that even Icheb could tell that Kostek wasn't actually upset, more likely he was curious, "I am not sure what the most appropriate response would be. Simply offering my sympathy does not feel like it would be enough."

That got a chuckle from the Cardassian and a rueful nod, "You're right about that. Anyway, my point is that my people are currently struggling to find their path forward. We're doing quite a bit of … soul searching, I believe the phrase is. I looked around and thought long and hard about who the great peoples of the Alpha Quadrant were. Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Humans. Out of those four, only one of them is vastly different from the rest."

"Humans. Only humans have created a powerful presence in the Alpha Quadrant in a way that does not advance one species over others."

Kostek nodded in agreement, "Just so. Additionally, the Federation remains strong while the Cardassian Union has been shattered, the Romulan Empire stands brittle, and it was the Federation that saved the Klingons from themselves. What makes the Federation so different? I hope becoming a Starfleet officer will help me find the answer."

Icheb was impressed at the level of analysis in Kostek's words, as well as the emotional control. From what history he knew, cultures often reacted with violence and aggression after being utterly crushed and humiliated by outsiders. Kostek was rare in how he was approaching the problem in front of him and his people.

"I hope you find what you're looking for."

Kostek smiled at him then looked back at the grounds, "Thank you, Icheb. So do I."


End file.
